Recipe #11: Red Pepper Hummus Pizza

Hummus on pizza. It’s a good idea.

Is it technically a flatbread? Sure. But there’s cheese and toppings and, just try it out, hummus. Included is my hummus recipe. I also love most store-bought brands of hummus. Feel free to use those. For me, making my own hummus is the only way I can get an amount of garlic that makes me feel good about myself.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• I used store-bought pizza dough. The pre-made doughs from Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods have worked very well for me in the past.
• You can also make your own dough! I haven’t done this, but I’ve heard it’s fun if you have time and yeast.

Red Pepper Hummus (enough to have plenty left over for snacking):

• 2 jars roasted red peppers, drained
• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/2 head garlic
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (or the juice from 1 lemon)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt to taste

Toppings I used (use whatever you want as long as it tastes good with red pepper hummus):

• Mozzarella
• Shaved parmasean
• 2 sautéed chicken breasts
• kalamata olives
• fresh parsley

My chicken breast seasoning (per chicken breast)

• 1 tbsp seasoned garlic salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp pepper
• Olive oil + butter

General process overview: you need to bake the dough twice, once without toppings, once with toppings, and all of your toppings need to be fully cooked before going on the pizza.

1. Prepare the dough. Put a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a medium sized bowl, and roll the dough in the olive oil. Let the dough rise for at least 30 minutes, but preferably an hour or two.
2. Prepare any toppings that need to be cooked, e.g. season your chicken breasts, fully cook them in butter and olive oil, let them cool, and cut them into cubes.
3. Make the red pepper hummus.
   1. In a blender or a food processor, add red peppers, chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. Blend or food-process until it is your desired consistency (I like it pretty smooth).
   2. Add olive oil while the blender or food processor is running if there is an opening in your machine to do so.
   3. Add salt (and more garlic, tahini, lemon, etc.) until you are satisfied. Keep tasting the hummus.
4. Once the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Find a large baking pan. Sprinkle some flour on the baking pan, and start stretching the dough to fit your pan.
5. Once the dough mostly covers your baking pan, pre-bake the dough for 5 minutes.
6. Take the dough out of the oven and increase the temperature to 500 degrees. Open a window or door if your apartment is now very hot.
7. Spread the red pepper hummus on the pizza like you would with tomato sauce. Don’t make it too thick.
8. Add cheese and the toppings of your choosing
9. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Eat this at any time of day. For breakfast, fry or poach some eggs and dip the pizza in the yolk. It’s a smart decision.